Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’s infamous scene which asks you to pay money or wait while your child avatar is strangled by a magic plant has been defended by developer Jam City.
The scene is designed so it coincides with the first time you run out of energy (Hogwarts Mystery uses a typical mobile game energy system where you either wait, or pay up to speed things along). If you don’t pay, you watch your young character continue to be strangled.
It’s a moment which defined the early response to the game a year ago – but which has not damaged its long-term success. In less than a year, Hogwarts Mystery had passed the $100m revenue mark.
Now, speaking to Eurogamer’s sister site GamesIndustry.biz, Jam City boss Yosh Yguado likened the scene to other moments of peril in the Harry Potter franchise – and suggested its cliffhanger nature was akin to other serialised storytelling.
“We’ve tried to create a game and write a story that has stakes, that has dramatic moments that reflect the level of drama and emotion that you see in the films and the books,” Yguado said. “I don’t think being in a perilous situation is unique to our Harry Potter game when you compare it to the films and the books.